Auburn flying April 1

[Mike Haverly]

     Alan Resinger came for a visit today with his new Crossfire.  Another case of photos doing injustice.  It is his normal excellent work but now he has a vinyl cutter to even better express his talents.  It flies well too!  He is still on his way home but will most likely check in with some particulars.
I don't know how many snow fakes he put on there but somebody told him that they all had to be different because that's the way it is in nature and they are all different!

     Mine is a slightly modified take apart Sultan like I've been flying for the last two years.  The wing is a little thicker and I went to wing mounted landing gear.  If I botch any landings this year, somebody please kick me.

     E-flite power 32, Hubin FM-9 timer, Castle Creations Ice Lite 75 timer and Thunderpower 5S 2700 batteries.  I'll not talk about weight, suffice to say it is not as light as I would like.  We've both been able to put up patterns after about three flights.  The carbon fiber three blade props work so well I may not ever try anything else.  There is still a lot of trim issues but nothing feels unsafe.  This time I started out with the CG almost a inch ahead of where an IC model would be.  I might move it back a little to get a little more corner.  Right now it tracks so well I hate to mess with that part and just increase handle spacing. 

    The weather was very nice until the expected choppiness showed up about 12:00, normal for this time of year in these parts.

[RC Storick]

When people take about CG forward as compaired to IC you would need to balance the IC plane with a full tank. Both models look great

[Mike Haverly]

This is true, of course.  CG doesn't change during the flight either.  It is nice to have pitch sensitivity remain constant.  I have enough things to deal with mainly due to lack of talent!  Mostly just an observation on my part, my most recent projects have started out with hunting and being a little more sensitive than necessary.

[Steve Hines]

This is true at the beginning, but how do you do it in the middle and at the end of the flight. Some how you would have to start ejecting batters during the flight. This would help at the end of the pattern when you need it.

Steve 

[Steve Helmick]

5th Element? Boron? I have a full spool of Boron fiber, and couldn't even get Howard to take it. Supposed to be killer strong chit!   Steve

PS: I have seen eStunters "ejecting batters" and heard of several others that did same. It didn't work out too well.

PSS: Both models look great! I heard from Keith that Alan was coming down, but couldn't decipher if it was yesterday or today, and besides, the phone never rang. And, is the gate fixed at Auburn Muni?

[RC Storick]

Having built 6 purpose built electrics I have found the CG to be close when no battery is installed. Slightly aft of IC.

Measure apples to apples not apples to bowling balls.

If its real tail heavy with no battery installed the gross weight is too high.

[Mike Haverly]

    The Fifth Element is the name of a SyFy movie with Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich.  It borders on comedy but the fifth element is needed to save the Earth from an invading Death Star.  Funny in places and not meant to be taken seriously.  Notice, I dropped "The" from name intentionally. 

    I'll not argue about trimming, I am, in fact, dealing with apples and apples.  I know what I want and how it "feels" when it gets there.  Also, I have some pretty good help here when I have a problem.  This isn't first horse in the race either.

    As far as CG shift, there is none with an electric set up.  It feels the same from beginning to end and helps a lot when you are going for that first outside of the clover in a stiff breeze.  Of course there are more factors here but at least that one doesn't rear its ugly head.

    The main vehicle gate at the airport, or at least the one we use, is "under repair" but the others are fine.  Minor inconvenience.

[Alan Resinger]

After braving the notorious Seattle rush hour traffic I got to Mike's shortly after 9 this morning.  We were going to do some lathe and mill work but had a minor setback with some of Mike's fixtures.  We finished getting his gorgeous "5th Element" ready for a session as he had been doing a few minor fixes after his first flights.  My Crossfire had it's first flight yesterday morning.  3 short 1.5 minute flights to confirm lap time and tweak the flaps.  First full 5.25 minute flight was the full pattern.  The Crossfire flies better than last years and will get even better as I continue trimming.  Even though the design is on the smaller side at only 626 sq. in. it handles the 64 oz. weight just fine.  
After an early lunch we went over to the Auburn airport and set up the traffic cones.  It was already getting gusty but we both knew pretty much what to expect from the designs.  We both got in enough flights for our own satisfaction and I have to say we're both more than happy with this years efforts.  Mike commented about the fact that these paint schemes coming out of the Pacific Northwest and Northern California are getting pretty fancy.  This trend seemed to start about 5 or 6 years ago when Phil Granderson bought his own vinyl cutter and started making paint masks.  Phil, Dave Fitzgerald and Jim Aron have benefitted from Phil's handiwork plus probably a few others.  Then Mike got into the act by getting a unit 2 or 3 years ago.  Last year besides doing his own ship he cut masks for Mr. Walkers "Predator" plus did a few little trim items I needed for my "Snowbird" Crossfire.  This year Chris Cox and I decided to jump into the mix  and got ourselves one.  It sure makes doing elaborate pains schemes more doable.  The mural on the tail of the Crossfire required about 2 months of practice learning how to really do airbrushing.  Doing it on such a small scale, was a real challenge.  
With  the first Northwest contest only a little over 3 weeks away we both have to really get busy and get the ships trimmed out.  
All in all a great day at Auburn and I only had to drive about 300 miles today.  I love road trips.
Oh I forgot.  First thing I mentioned to Mike this morning was that just last week I caught "The Fifth Element" again.  I think I've seen it more than Mike.
Steve, your name came up when I was talking with Mike, but I thought you were too busy dreaming of large mouths.  Keith said something about you going down to visit Gary?  Tell him hello for me.
    

[Duke.Johnson]

Mike/Alan
Those are a couple beautiful planes.  Hope to see you both at the Portland contest.

[John Leidle]

  Nice looking plane Mike.